Saturday, October 23, 2004

Resident Evil Apocalypse

I saw Resident Evil: Apocalypse a couple of nights ago and I’m still trying to decide whether or not I like it. First off, it’s not a great movie. It’s not even a great zombie movie. The script is flawed and the action scenes are abominable. Really badly directed. But despite that there’s something likeable about it. Maybe it’s because I have a soft spot for the video game it’s based on, and another for zombie flicks, but I can’t not like this film. I watched the first movie on DVD after seeing this and I discovered that I like it better than this sequel. Maybe it’s because you can actually get to see the zombies. Something that doesn’t happen in Apocalypse- there, all the action scenes are a blur. There’s even a confrontation with Nemesis (who was very well done I thought- though not as menacing by far as he is in the game) which was so badly done that I don’t think I saw a single part of the fight, just a lot of swirling camera action. Not good. I’m also not too keen on the direction the script took towards the end of the movie- not at all to my taste. Even so, while I was watching I enjoyed it well enough and I’ll most likely add it to my DVD collection when it’s released. It’s not good but not bad either, if that makes any sense.

One thing I will say is that, if anyone is planning a third instalment of the series- play the games. A lot. Then play ‘em some more. The films are supposed to be like the games. The Resident Evil series are great, tension filled, scary games. Make a movie like the game and you’ll be onto a winner. The other option is to base the movie on the books written by S.D. Perry. I’m currently on the third in the series (which is basically the Resident Evil 2 game) and they’re enjoyable romps. Good clean zombie and monster killing fun. If you like the games or the movies, these books are definitely worth checking out.

If you’re into it, there’s a double DVD being released on 28th December of movie one and two. No sign yet of a single Apocalypse release.

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